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Explanatory Models in Science
A scientific model is an idea or set of
ideas that explains what causes a
particular phenomenon in nature.
We are interested in models from the perspective of what practicing
scientists actually do. The most important overall goal of scientists is the
development of an understanding of how various parts of the natural world
work. To do this, scientists make observations, identify patterns in data, then
develop and test explanations for those patterns. Such explanations are
called scientific models.
It is important to note that scientists use drawings, graphs, equations, three
dimensional structures, or words to communicate their models (which are
ideas and not physical objects) to others. However, the drawings, replicas or
other tools are distinct from the underlying models they purport to explain.
Explanatory models in science are continuously judged by a community of
scientists. To evaluate a particular model, scientists ask:
1. Can the model explain all the observations?
2. Can the model be used to predict the behavior of the system if it is
manipulated in a specific way?
3. Is the model consistent with other ideas we have about how the
world works and with other models in science?
In judging models, scientists don’t ask whether a particular model is "right".
They ask whether a model is "acceptable". And acceptability is based on
a model’s ability to do the three things outlined above: explain, predict, and
be consistent with other knowledge. Moreover, more than one model may
be an acceptable explanation for the same phenomenon. It is not always
possible to exclude all but one model – and also not always desirable. For
example, physicists think about light as being wavelike or particle-like and
each model of light’s behavior is used to think about and account for
phenomena differently.
Finally, we note that in practice, models are continuously revised as they are
used to probe new phenomena and collect additional data.
This site was developed by the National Center for Mathematics and Science in the
Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Copyright © 2002 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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